24 Hours
by Emmeken
Summary: What bank-employee Bella Swan thinks to be a quite boring day, quickly changes when ten innocent people suddenly become hostages in a robbery gone wrong. Luckily she has stranger Edward Cullen by her side, as the drama unfolds and they are forced to stay in the frightening situation for 24 hours. - All human
1. Chapter 1: 15:45

**Chapter 1 – 15:45**

**Bella's POV**

"Thank you, and have a good day sir.", I say probably for the 100th time today. I quickly glance at the clock and see it's only 15:45. More than an hour to go, before I can go home. Not that I don't like working here… Ok that's a lie. This is the most boring job I've ever had, but it's pays well, so I won't complain. On a busy day, it isn't that bad, but on a calm one like this, the minutes just pass by too slowly. Only nine people here, fifteen if you add the people who work here. For a large bank like this, that kind of sucks.

"Don't you have that big date tonight?", I ask Kate, my coworker who always sits next to me at the counter, hoping this will start an interesting conversation. But knowing how much Kate loves to talk, I don't really doubt it will.

She immediately nods, while smiling widely. "He's taking me to Chez Louis, which is like the most expensive restaurant in the city, because we're celebrating our two month-anniversary."

Two months. Since when is that worth celebrating? A year, six months. That's understandable, but two months? "Oh, really? Congratulations.", I say as happy as I can.

"You'd really like Garrett. He's sweet, charming, a real gentleman. And handsome too.", she says, while subtly winking at me. "I should introduce him to you once. Maybe I can ask him to visit me at work."

"Are you sure you want to do that? He might die of boredom here.", I joke, but immediately regret when I hear a soft cough. Shit. _You have got to be kidding me._, I yell in my mind, to no one in particular.

"Miss Swan.", my boss, Mr. Eleazar, says calmly. I turn my chair around, just to see the old man with his arms crossed and that angry look I know far too well on his face.

I innocently smile at him, hoping he will forget what he just heard. But I've used that trick so often – really got to learn how to keep my mouth shut – that it doesn't work anymore. "How 'ya doing, boss?", I ask as charming as possible, but the frown on his face doesn't even slightly fade.

"May I have word with you after work?" Damn it.

"Of course sir.", I sigh and turn around again, as he walks to his office. I'm so getting fired this time.

"Well that sucked.", Kate states worriedly, though her attention is quickly drawn by something else. "Bella.", she whispers, "Look at that one." She not so subtly points at the entrance and I immediately understand why. A quite handsome man just entered the building and calmly looks around. "He's mine.", she mumbles, while putting on her most charming smile. That's the weird thing about Kate. Even though she has a boyfriend, she still keeps flirting away. Yet instead of stopping before her, he walks towards me, while taking of his gloves off and placing them in front of me. I shortly look at Kate, just in time to see her mouth the words 'Damn it', as she looks at me with a jealous smile.

As I look forward again, the man has taken his wallet and places two bills of a hundred in front of me. "Change in ten bills of twenty please.", he says with a kind smile, revealing his perfect white teeth. My God, he's hot.

"Right away, sir.", I smile politely, while putting the money in the cash register and grabbing what he asked.

"Oh, you may say Edward. I don't like being called 'sir'. Makes me feel so old.", he grins again, looking in my eyes.

"Here you go, sir.", I say, while handing him the bills and rolling my eyes. "Sorry, company-policy to address customers as such. And since I'm probably getting fired today, I wouldn't want to make my boss even angrier."

"Sorry to hear that.", he says distracted, while focusing on the entrance and not paying attention to me. Am I really that boring?

Yet then he suddenly gasps. "Crap. Get down!", he says loudly and jumps over the counter.

Before I can react, all hell breaks loose. Several guys, all dressed in black and with masks to cover their faces walk through the glass door and start shooting at the ceiling. Screams fill the room, but you can clearly hear one of them yell 'Everyone lay down, now!'. Immediately everyone does as he says, except me. I freeze. Even though I'm really trying to, I can't move, making me panic even more.

"This can't be happening. This can't be happening.", I whisper hastily to myself.

"I said, get down!", one of the men screams, as he points his gun to me and my eyes fill with tears of fear. Edward quickly tugs my arm and pulls me to the ground, sort of covering my body with his own. One of the other guys comes stand with us behind the counter, closely keeping an eye on all of us. Another one is busy dragging a loudly complaining Mr. Eleazar out of his office and presses him against the ground, with the barrel of his gun against his head.

"Shut up or die, old man. Your choice."

Mr. Eleazar softly nods, to let him know he'll behave.

"This is what is going to happen.", the man – obviously the leader – continues with a loud voice so everyone can hear him, "You all are going to lay perfectly still, won't cause any trouble and then no one will get hurt. Do you understand?" Then he orders two of the men to come with him, probably to the vault, while the other two stay here and slowly pace around the room. I quickly look at my boss, who's focusing on the red alarm-button under my desk and obviously is thinking how he can press it without getting himself killed. Shortly he looks me in the eyes and I shake my head, trying to prevent him from doing something very stupid. But then he stares at the button again for several minutes and when neither of the guys is near, jumps up and pushes it.

The men immediately react with pointing their guns at him. "What did you do, old man?", one of them yells angrily, after which you can hear the distant swears of the ones that went to the vault. A few seconds later one them storms in the room, loudly screaming.

"What the hell happened?! The vault just closed itself again, we can't open it anymore!", the leader screams, while hardly throwing something on the floor, causing a woman I can't see to start sobbing.

The other guy nods at Mr. Eleazar. "He did it." After which the leader roughly grabs him by his neck and presses him against the wall, almost choking him.

"How long does the vault stay on safety-lock?"

"I-", he mumbles, revealing his lack of air, but is instantly cut off.

"How long?!'

"24 hours.", he manages to say with difficulty, while his face is turning. I should do something, anything, but what can I do against some guys with weapons?

"Don't do anything. You'll get yourself killed.", Edward whispers barely understandable, as I look around the room to find a solution. But the screams of the man in black draw my attention again.

"This is just bloody brilliant!", he says to no one in particular, while letting go of Eleazar who loudly couching falls on the ground. Yet suddenly he takes his gun and points it at his head. "You shouldn't have done that." And then I hear the loud gunshot, making my whole body whither. _Oh no. It can't be. Did he?_ Slowly and shaking I look at the lifeless body of Mr. Eleazar, his face covered in his own blood. _Dead._

"Let this be a lesson for all of you. Or you do as we say, or you die. And since we're going to be here for a while, you better learn quickly."

* * *

**AN: I hope you guys like it, let me know ok? **

**Love, Emmeken. **


	2. Chapter 2: 16:05

**Chapter 2 – 16:05**

I should feel something, I think. I mean, I'm being kept hostage, my boss has just been fucking killed and there's a good chance the same thing is going to happen to me. But I feel numb, paralyzed. Even when one of the men roughly grabs my arm and points his gun at Edward and Kate, ordering them to stand up and follow, I don't find the strength to react. On the contrary to Kate, who is basically hyperventilating, yet I notice how Edward grabs her hand, in an attempt to calm her a bit. Yet his eyes stay focused on mine, and honestly, mine on his.

"Lay down and don't move, even the slightest bit.", he yells for the entire room, when he harshly pushes me to the ground, in front of the counter so they can clearly see everyone. And so can I. Now it suddenly hits me how many people are here, of what I first thought it were so few. All so frightened. Some are crying, some are just laying deadly still, though you can see the fear in their pale faces. A couple draws my attention. They both must be in their mid-thirties, and the man keeps whispering soothing words to – what I assume is – his wife. She"s sobbing quietly, though you can see she's trying so hard not to, while she softly rubs her bulging pregnant belly. I can't even imagine the fear they must be going through right now. Not only their own lives are at stake here, but their baby's life as well. I glance around the rest of the room and try to remember every fellow-hostage. Emmett, the guard with obviously has had a painful hit to the head, Tanya, who also works here, and two other clients I do not know. What happened to the others? Did they manage to get out? Or are they just hiding here somewhere?

While two of the robbers are blackening the windows and locking the doors –making sure no one can get or see inside-, my attention is suddenly drawn to the loud yelling of 'the leader' who now is pointing his gun at Kate's head. It's not hard to see why, as she is still hyperventilating loudly.

"Shut up.", he screams angrily, but it only makes her panic even more. Without thinking about it, I crawl to her on my stomach and put my hand on her leg.

She immediately looks me in the eyes, while I calmly pat her leg – as it is the only thing I can reach. "It's going to be ok. But you really have to calm down Kate.", I say kind of begging, "Deep breaths."

And she does as I say, after which she slowly, but surely starts to calm down. The leader then harshly grabs me by my hair and drags me away again, while I can't help but scream.

"No talking.", he says threatening, bringing his face closer to mine, making me see his – almost perfect – green eyes. Then he lets go of my hair and walks towards one of the others and pointing to the other rooms. Probably to check whether there is anyone hiding. Several silent minutes pass, before one the guys – I know notice he's a lot smaller than the others – returns and nods to the employee-lounge. They softly start whispering, as the others join them and seemingly they all agree on something, but what? I can't shake the feeling that they don't even care a bit about our lives. The leader again takes his place in the middle of the large room and starts explaining with large gestures.

"As a reward for your good behavior", he says with a little bit of sarcasm, "We're moving you to another room. Do not cause trouble, do not annoy me, or I will not hesitate to use this." He waves with his gun, while we all stay perfectly still, afraid to anger him. "C'mon. Are you people deaf? Get up, now!"

From the moment he has said it, everywhere people are carefully starting moving, getting up silently. Then they walk to the lounge with small steps, all in a row. When I get up, I notice how the blond man is helping his pregnant wife stand up and Emmett is still lying on the floor with a bleeding bump on his head. Without any doubt I walk towards him, reaching out my hand, but he can't even focus enough to grab it. _I'll have to carry him, somehow. But how do you carry a guy who is twice as big as you?_ With all my might, I try to pull him up and let him lean on me. Yet I soon feel that I'm not strong enough for all his weight and he falls to the ground again.

"Damn it.", I mumble frustrated, but I'm relieved when I see Edward walking towards me. The two of us drag Emmett to the right room, without needing to have said any word. But why did he return? For all he knew that would've made them even more angry. When every hostage is in the room, one of the men enters, though it's not the leader this time.

"Behave, do not cause any trouble. You know the consequences." And with that he closes – and locks – the door after him, leaving us all inside. Yes, we do know the consequences. We've all seen what happened to mister Eleazar who probably still sits against the wall, lifelessly.

I glance around the room and see how everyone tries to calm themselves, except Edward, who looks surprisingly calm. For quite some time, no one dares to say anything, until Edward breaks the silence. "Well... This day turned out to be less boring than I expected.", he tries to state a bit joking, after which I can't help but grin a little. We're probably all about to die and that's what he has to say? Bloody brilliant. Or bloody idiotic. Haven't figured that out yet. "No. Not the time yet? Alright then.", he says when everyone is giving him an angry look, after which he walks towards Emmett trying to keep him awake. Then everyone starts talking, freaking out, rambling on about how they're not ready to die yet. Except the couple that caught my attention earlier. The heavily pregnant is sitting on one the chairs, with her husband kneeling in front of her. Just when he walks to the table to get some water, I take my chance to talk to him.

"Hi." _Damn it. That's not the right thing to say in a situation like this Bella. _"I mean, I'm sorry. Bella Swan." I reach out my hand towards him, which he grabs and shakes for a second.

"Carlisle.", he says kind of friendly and then eyes at the woman, "And that's my wife, Esmé." He doesn't hide how worried he is about her – and his baby.

I look at Esmé, who has her arms wrapped around her stomach, still heavily breathing. "Is she ok?", I ask softly, after which he shakes his head.

"I don't know. The stress.. It isn't good for her.", he sighs, "I need to calm her down, or both the baby and her may be in danger. Well.. even more in danger than at the moment, I mean." I shortly nod understanding and he walks towards his wife again, who gratefully excepts the glass of water.

"What the hell are you doing?", I suddenly hear a male voice asking. But there comes no response. When I turn around I see Edward standing on a chair, looking at the ventilation-vents. I silently walk towards him and stop just before the chair, after which I poke his leg.

"Ehm, Edward. What the hell are you doing?", I repeat the question, after which he subtly smiles.

"Trying to escape, of course.", he answers calmly, looking at the sealing again.

"See he's just-", I begin to speak to the stranger, but turn around again, "I'm sorry, you're doing what?"

**AN: Woah, I didn't expect that much reviews. Thank you guys so much! Here's chapter 2. I hope you like it, please let me know ok? **

**Love Emmeken. **


End file.
